Episode 131 Eggheads

These people are amongst the greatest quiz players in Britain.

Together, they make up the Eggheads,

arguably the most formidable quiz team

in the country.

The question is, can they be beaten?

Welcome to Eggheads, the show where a team of five quiz challengers

pit their wits against possibly the greatest quiz team in Britain.

They are the Eggheads.

And challenging our resident quiz champions today are

Nott So Smart, from Nottinghamshire.

Now, this team of friends and family share a passion for walking,

and they also attend a fundraising quiz twice a year at their

local village hall together.

Let's meet them.

I'm John, I'm 70, and I'm an author.

Hi, I'm Chris, I'm 45, and I'm a pensions consultant.

Hi, I'm Craig, I'm 43, and I'm a project manager.

Hi, I'm Phil, I'm 64, and I'm a retired IT project manager.

Hi, I'm Steve, 46, and I'm an IT business analyst.

-John and team, welcome.

-ALL:

-Thank you.

Great to see you. I should say that Nott So Smart ha...

-There's two "T"s in "Nott", so...

-ALL:

-Yes.

-That's right, yes.

-Yeah.

So, you've got the confidence to take on and take down

the Eggheads here, I hope.

THEY LAUGH Well, the idea is that we're so smart

but more than likely, not so smart.

So tell me about the walk that you do, first of all.

Well, we started, I think, Jeremy, in about 1990,

and we do roughly a 100-mile long-distance trail each year.

And we choose one, you know, to go for

depending on how difficult or easy the previous year has been.

Does it end where it began or do you just go in a straight line

and get picked up?

No, usually...usually, we have to work all the logistics out

which can be very tricky.

I suppose it's a good chance

of getting away from work and stress, and...

-It is the best.

-It is the best.

-It is the best.

-Yeah.

Tell us about the quiz.

Well, it's a quiz that's put together by the local village hall,

and it's a mixture really of words and pictorials,

and it's fairly...fairly lightweight.

We take it... We don't take it too seriously,

we don't even compete for a prize

but just really on a...I guess of trying to get to be the top team.

Here, as you know, it is rather different. There is a prize.

In fact, every day there's £1,000 worth of cash up for grabs

for our challengers.

If they fail to defeat the Eggheads,

the prize money rolls over to the next show.

So, Nott So Smart,

the Eggheads came a cropper in the last game.

And that means...

A - it can be done,

B - that £1,000 is on the table now

to say you can't beat them.

The first head-to-head battle is on the subject of Music.

Who would like this?

-THEY CONFER:

-Who are we going for?

Well, who are we going to do for Music?

-Steve?

-I'm not so good at music.

-Chris doesn't want it?

-Chris, what about you?

-Chris...

-Do you want me to take it?

-Yeah, go on.

-OK.

-Chris? OK.

-Yeah, I'll take it.

Chris, which Egghead would you like to take on?

-(..Go for Dave.)

-Dave?

-Yeah.

-OK.

Dave.

Right. So, Chris from Nott So Smart

versus the very smart,

in fact the Tremendous Knowledge Dave

on the end there. To ensure there's no conferring,

would you please take your positions in the Question Room?

Chris, what kind of music do you hope comes up

in this very wide-ranging round?

Well, I'm hoping for sort of...

I guess my era was rock music, um...

'80s. '80s and '90s, I guess, probably.

So, I'm hoping we're not too modern and not too old, I guess.

Indeed. So, Chris, you can choose,

the first or second set of questions?

I'll go for the first set, please.

Here we go.

In which year did Boyzone have their first UK number one single

with the song Words?

Right.

Well, I like this song actually, um...

And I'm trying to think. I Was... I'm pretty sure I was...

I'd left university, I think, when this came out. Um...

I'm going to go...

I think I'm drawn towards 2004.

First UK number one single - no, not 2004.

It was actually quite a bit earlier - 1996,

for Boyzone.

Dave, your question.

Which vocalist started a long career as lead singer with Judas Priest

when he joined them in 1973?

Well, Marc Bolan's T. Rex, Les Gray's Mud.

Rob Halford is Judas Priest.

Rob Halford is correct.

Yes.

Chris, second question.

Which band's second album, released in 1999

has the title Agaetis Byrjun,

which roughly translates as "a good beginning"?

Right, um, well,

I don't think it's Runrig.

I've got one of the Runrig albums, I don't think...

I don't think it's Runrig. Um...

I think I'm going to go for Clannad.

That's wrong.

The answer is Sigur Ros.

But what's the... What's the coun...

-They're Danes, are they?

-Icelandic, I think.

-Icelandic.

-Icelandic, Icelandic.

-Ah, that was...

So, Sigur Ros is the right answer.

So, Dave, if you get this one right you're in the final round.

Erich Korngold is widely regarded

as one of the greatest exponents of which field of music?

Hm.

I don't know.

Um...

Chamber music and stage musicals aren't jumping out at me,

but film scores...

Yeah, I will go for film scores,

just because the other two aren't really jumping at me.

But no real conviction.

Film scores is correct, Dave. Well done. So...

Sorry, Chris, knocked out there,

which means Dave is in the final,

and you won't be able to help your team in the final.

But don't worry, plenty of game to come.

Please rejoin your teams.

As it stands, Nott So Smart have lost the one brain.

The Eggheads are still intact.

And I can tell you the next subject is Science.

So, who would like Science here?

-Steven.

-Steven.

-Steven, yeah.

-I think Steven.

-Do you think you're happy with that?

-Is this a stitch up?

No, no, no.

-What do you think?

-I can take it, if you like.

-Yeah.

-What do you prefer?

-Yeah, you answer.

I don't mind, I don't mind. If you want me to go, I'll go.

-I think we'll stay with him.

-OK, you go then.

So, Phil, can you choose an Egghead?

-Not Pat.

-No, not Pat.

-Judith?

-Judith.

I'll go with Judith.

Okey-dokey.

Phil from Nott So Smart against Judith on Science.

-On Science, yes.

-To ensure there's no conferring,

please take your positions in our Question Room.

OK, well, good luck in this round. It is science.

Phil, are you going first or second?

I will go first, please.

And here we go.

For what does the letter 'R' stand in the medical condition

commonly known as RSI?

I think that's a fairly straightforward one for me.

I'll go straight down the middle, and that's repetitive.

Yes indeed.

Can you spell out the whole thing?

-Repetitive strain injury?

-Yeah, that's right.

Repetitive is right.

Judith, in the periodic table of chemical elements,

what term is used for a column of elements?

THEY LAUGH

Oh, the malicious gang.

The whole lot of them.

It's a group.

DAVE LAUGHS

Group is right.

Phil,

in the late 19th century,

the Hungarian-born inventor David Gestetner

patented a machine for doing what?

I seem to think that one of the first photocopying machines

had the name Geste...Gestetner...

on it.

That may have been a very old machine but, yes,

I'll go with document duplication.

Document duplication is right, Phil.

Well done.

And I guess it's um...

I'm thinking it must predate the photocopier

in the sense it wasn't...

flashing a light on a page and photographing it.

Was it a sort of hand-cranked thing, the Gestetner machine, anybody?

Yes, think so. I mean, as far as I can remember.

Anyone seen one? Anyone touched one?

-Yeah.

-Oh, yes.

-You've done... Yes?

And John, what did it do?

Yes, it did just that. It...

You literally turned a handle, and out came the copies

of the master that you'd laid on the top in the first place.

-But not a photograph presumably, some other way?

-No.

-It was silkscreen, I think...

-Silkscreen?

-..process. Mm-hm.

-How interesting.

-Mm.

Judith, which bird found in Britain is the

largest member of the crow family?

I can never remember what a ruff is.

But a razorbill, I think lives in Africa.

Um...

I... ravens are very big.

I think it's a raven.

Raven is right.

Two each.

I know it'd be better if you'd sort of managed to shrug her off by now,

Phil, but she's a good player.

I'll give it a go.

Give it a go with this third question here.

What type of creature is the onager,

native to Southwestern Asia.

Onager, Phil, is just spelt obviously O-N-A-G-E-R.

That's right, that's right.

I really haven't got the faintest idea on this one.

I'm going to go with the ass, Jeremy.

The ass.

THEY LAUGH

Is he right, Eggs?

-Yes.

-Yeah, ass is the right answer.

Fantastic.

So, well done, Phil. You got that right.

And Judith, you've got to get this one right to stay in.

Sophia Jex-Blake, born in 1840, was an important pioneer

of women's participation in which scientific field?

Well, the sort of most likely thing would be medicine, really.

I really don't think there would have been many women engineers

in 1840, 50, 60 - whatever you said.

On the other hand, she could have had a telescope in her back garden.

Um...

I think I'm going to say medicine...

as being the most likely.

Medicine is correct.

Well played.

Sorry, Phil, she is a very, very fine player of the quizzing game.

She is. Troublesome.

Very troublesome.

So, we go to Sudden Death now, which means you have to give me

the answer, and I don't give you alternatives.

The term "leveret" is used for the young of which animal?

I'm trying to think. I've got a few options in my mind.

I've got the hare...

Yes, and going to go for the hare, Jeremy.

Leveret, the hare.

Latin for the hare is "lepus".

And you're quite right, the hare it is.

Judith, to stay in.

What is the chemical formula for calcium oxide?

I don't understand these things,

having never done chemistry at school.

Um, but it must be Ca...

..O...

2.

SHE LAUGHS: Add in a "2" for fun.

-So, the...

-THEY LAUGH

I don't know.

So, your answer is CaO2?

-Yes.

-OK.

It w... Um, it's not right, Judith.

I'm not surprised.

It was the "2" that's the problem.

-It's actually just...

-Oh, no, it's not CaO, is it?!

-It is just CaO.

-Oh.

-You added the "2" in...

-Curse it.

-I know.

-So, well done, Phil. You've taken the round.

-Good.

And you will be in the final.

Please, both of you, rejoin your teams.

OK, as it stands, Nott So Smart have lost a brain from the final round,

whilst the Eggheads have also lost a brain.

So, let's see what happens next. It's Geography.

Who would like this, John?

-THEY CONFER:

-I really don't want this.

-No.

-You're not taking...

Do you want Geography?

-Phil? We've lost our geography.

-Well, I'll take then.

-Yeah, you take it.

-For the team?

Yeah.

Do you want to? Do you want to?

-Ah...

-I mean, if Phil... We'd be hopeless.

-Are you strong in it or not?

-Why don't you do it?

-I'll take it.

-I'll take it.

-You sure?

-Yeah, I'll take it.

John against which Egghead?

-Which Egghead?

-Can't have Judith or Dave.

I'll take Kevin.

Wow.

-Brave.

-Got to eliminate him, haven't we?

-Yes.

-Not that we will.

-THEY LAUGH

-There is no way round.

There is no way round Kevin.

OK.

John from Nott So Smart versus Kevin from the Eggheads

on Geography.

And please go to the question room.

Good luck in this round, Geography.

Have you been anywhere recently, Kevin, of interest?

Um, not that recently as we speak.

My latest foreign trips were both to Germany,

to Munich, and to Berlin.

But even that's going back a few months now.

OK, so, John, would you like to go first or second?

I'll go second, Jeremy, please.

Kevin, your question.

Which part of England is often referred to as "1066 Country?"

Well...

I mean, assuming that the...there were a couple of invasions

in 1066 of course, but um...

assuming that this is referring to the Norman conquest...

then that would be the South East because they landed in Sussex,

and the Battle of Hastings was obviously fought in Sussex, so...

1066 Country would presumably be the tourist trail around

the sites associated with that, so...

South East.

-Not far from where you live.

-No, no.

South East is correct.

John, Abraham's Path,

a walking on cultural tourism route

is in which part of the world?

Well, I haven't heard of it

which I clearly should have done as a walker.

I wouldn't say it's in Australia.

So I'd have to go, but not knowing, for Middle East.

Middle East is the right answer.

Kevin, which city's international airport

was once known as Aldergrove?

Well, it's... This is one I've been to,

so there's no point beating about the bush.

I went to it when it was called Aldergrove, and I've been since.

It's Belfast.

Belfast is the right answer.

So, it's changed names?

Yes, it changed, only slight...to Belfast International...

-Airport now.

-Right.

-Much more prosaic.

-Prosaic, and a bit more...bit more global.

-Yep.

-Outward looking.

Yes.

Over to you, John. The Republic of Palau,

an island country in the Western Pacific,

has which official currency?

Western Pacific... Um...

Well, again, I don't know.

I don't think it's the US dollar.

I also don't think it's the Australian dollar, so again,

by default really, I have to go down the middle

and say The Netherlands.

The answer is the US dollar, John.

Oh, hm.

OK.

Kevin, we're over to you. Third question.

If you get this one right, you've taken the round.

The flag of Mauritania, that features a crescent and star,

is made up of which two colours?

I should know flags instantly but I'm just having a

little think about this one.

Yeah, it's pretty... It's green and yellow. It's um...

The Islamic colour comes into it.

I know green is the Islamic colour and...

Yellow star. It's... Yeah, green and yellow.

Green and yellow is the right answer, Kevin.

So, three out of three.

Sorry, John.

A Palau question...did for you again.

Such a strong competitor there, I'm afraid.

And you won't be in the final round.

Both of you, come back, please. Rejoin your teams.

So, as it stands, Nott So Smart have lost two brains

from the final round, whilst the Eggheads have lost one.

The next subject is Politics.

It's good?

What were you waiting for, Steve?

-THEY TALK OVER EACH OTHER

-Whatever...

-Let's do it.

-Do you know what, I'll do it.

-What?

-Yeah, I'll do it.

-Really?

-I'll keep family pride intact.

-OK.

Craig is going to do it.

Again which Egghead?

Try Pat.

All right, we'll go Pat. We'll go Pat.

-Please.

-Pat.

-OK.

So, Craig from Nott So Smart versus Pat from the Eggheads.

So, please, if you can, go to our question room now.

So, Craig, before we start, I should say,

the family dimension of the team is interesting

-cos it's you, and your brother, and your father?

-That's right, yeah.

Three family members and two friends, that's a great combo.

-Yeah, it is.

-It's Politics that we're doing.

Would you like to go first or second?

I'd like to go second, actually, please.

Pat, your question, then.

In the UK, DCMS stands for

the Department for Culture, Media and what?

Um...

I think it's...

It's Sport.

They're heavily involved in things like the Olympics. It's Sport.

Culture, Media and Sport is correct.

Socialism would be interesting.

I don't think they've got a department

devoted exclusively to that.

JEREMY LAUGHS

OK, Craig.

In which country did Xi Jinping become president in March 2013?

Xi is... Let me just help you with the name.

X-I.

And then Jinping - J-I-N-P-I-N-G.

Well, I don't know.

I don't think it's Peru.

I think it's...

I should know if it's China. Um...

(Vietnam.)

I'm going to go...

China. Please.

Well done, you're right.

HE SIGHS

China it is.

Pat,

which broadcaster, who covered many general elections

with the BBC and ITN before stepping down in 2005,

became famous for his use of the swingometer?

I don't know much about Gordon Brewer.

And I think Jeremy Paxman continued in office long past the date

you mentioned, but the man...

linked with the swingometer.

At election after election, it was Peter Snow.

Peter Snow is the right answer.

My hero.

-Your predecessor.

-My predecessor, yeah.

Cos I do it now, that's true. And it's great fun.

It's a wonderful thing.

OK.

Craig.

Which former First Lady

wrote the book Dear Socks, Dear Buddy,

about children's letters to the pets at the White House?

HE SIGHS

God, that's a difficult question as well. Again, don't know.

Have to be a guess. Um...

Doesn't seem highbrow enough for Hillary Clinton.

So I'm going to go...

Oh, I'll go Nancy "Regan".

Please.

-Nancy Reagan.

-Reagan, sorry.

Yeah, I...I would have gone Barbara Bush here, but...

we're both wrong.

Hillary Clinton it is.

Right, you're ahead, Pat.

And because you went first,

if you get this one right, you've taken the round.

In 2012, the anniversary of which leader's birthday was renamed

Day Of The Shining Star?

I think that's um...

Kim Jong-il of North Korea.

I think it's in April, some time in April.

Kim Jong-il is in the news a lot, that's for sure.

Who is Chiang Kai-shek?

Chiang Kai-shek was in charge of the Nationalist Chinese

who had the dispute with the communists and ended up in Taiwan.

-But that's going back a way, is it?

-Oh, along time ago, yes.

It's not last week or anything.

No. No, well, all those chaps have been dead some time.

Kim Jong-il is the right answer.

Pat, so you've got it. So, you've got three out of three.

-Sorry, Craig.

-Well done.

The pain of the single incorrect answer in a three-question round.

-Yeah.

-So, you have been knocked out.

Pat will be in the final round.

And if you both come back to us, we will play that final.

This is what we have been playing towards.

It is time for the final round which, as always,

is General Knowledge.

But I'm afraid those of you who lost your head-to-heads

won't be allowed to take part in this round.

So, John, Chris and Craig from Nott So Smart

and Judith from the Eggheads, would you please now leave the studio?

Well, Phil and Steve, you are playing to win Nott So Smart £1,000.

Barry, Pat, Kevin and Dave, you're playing for something

that money can't buy - the Eggheads' reputation.

As usual, I will ask each team three questions in turn.

This time the questions are all General Knowledge.

You are allowed to confer.

So, Phil and Steve, the question is,

are your two brains able to overcome the Eggheads' four

over here? And would you like to go first or second?

First, please.

So, Steve and Phil, good luck. Here we go.

Gerald Grosvenor, who is often said to be

one of the wealthiest landowners in Britain,

is better known by what title?

-I think it's Duke of Westminster.

-I think so too.

And that's just a gut feeling.

Um...

-I think.

-Yes, go for the Duke of Westminster.

-Duke of Westminster.

-Duke of Westminster is the correct answer.

-Thank you.

-Excellent.

Good start.

Eggheads, a famous series of World War II posters

exhorted the British public to "Be like Dad, keep..."

what?

-Mum?

-Mum.

-Mum?

It was a famous poster

and it had that wonderful slogan

"Be like Dad, keep Mum."

The answer's Mum.

Keep Mum. Of course, yes. Well done.

OK. Over to you, Nott So Smart.

What was the name of the character played by Daniel Craig

in the 1990s TV series Our Friends In The North?

Do you know that one?

I'd struggle to answer that one. Um...

-If it was in the North...

-Yeah, I mean, it's got to...

Um...

Shall we go for Geordie?

Um, well, just hang on a sec. So, um...

I'm drawn...

..to Tosker.

Um...

I'm not sure. You've got a gut feeling?

It could be too obvious, that's what I'm thinking.

I have no idea. I mean, I'm going for Geordie

because it's in the North.

-Mm.

-No, you know, if you've got a feeling for it - go.

I'm taking a punt, cos this man's very intelligent.

So, I will go with Geordie.

I loved this series when it came out in the '90s.

And Tosker is a character in it, so you couldn't have ruled that out.

Barrett probably is as well, actually.

But Geordie is the right answer.

And it's very odd now watching. You know, that...

The reason it's great is you see their lives played through

current events and all that.

And then you see Daniel Craig becoming an old man, you know,

-and now...

-Here he is.

Here he is 20 years later as Bond.

OK, Eggheads,

which of these explorers was once apprentice

to a firm of coal shippers in Whitby?

It's got to be James Cook.

-It's got to be Cook anyway.

-Yeah.

-He's the logical one...

-Yeah.

-It's not...

-Mungo Park was Scottish.

-He was a doctor.

-Ernest Shackleton was Irish, so...

Yes.

Well, Mungo Park was...

..probably a little earlier.

He was busy in Africa,

and Shackleton was in the South Atlantic,

South Georgia and Antarctica.

But the man who's irrevocably linked with Whitby is James Cook.

So that's our answer.

James Cook is correct.

So, two each.

Third question, which can be crucial.

Challengers,

which horse won the Cheltenham Gold Cup in 1970 and 1971,

and ended Red Rum's winning run in the Grand National in 1975?

-L'Escargot... Wasn't L'Escargot...?

-That's what I was thinking it was.

Um...

I will go with Royal Frolic as a guess.

That's your thought, is it? What's your reasoning?

-I think L'Escargot is a flat...

-Flat racer.

-..racer.

-Grundy?

-I've never heard of Grundy.

-I've never heard of Grundy.

I've only heard of Royal Frolic, and it sounds as if...

he could have done it.

Last time I gambled at the Cheltenham Gold Cup

I lost a fortune. So...

But here we go. Royal Frolic.

Royal Frolic, OK. Based on...

What was the...? Which is the sense?

Just... Yeah, we haven't done A for a while.

THEY LAUGH

No, I've no idea.

-No idea.

-OK. Do you know, Eggs?

-ALL:

-L'Escargot.

-L'Escargot!

-Oh.

-Again.

-Drat.

-Again with the...

-Yeah, you've...

It was the... Cheltenham is obviously the problem.

-Yeah.

-It is.

-Yeah.

Losing your shirt again.

Well, you haven't lost your shirt yet. OK.

Eggheads, your third question for the contest.

Which author wrote the novels Nostradamus Ate My Hamster,

The Hollow Chocolate Bunnies Of The Apocalypse

and Sex and Drugs and Sausage Rolls.

-Doesn't sound like Michael Moorcock.

-No, it doesn't.

But other than that, I have no idea.

-Any thoughts?

-No.

I...I don't recognise...

Robert Rankin is saying something

to me, but I've no idea why.

Well, he's the only one...

We don't think it's Michael Moorcock.

No, it's definitely not Moorcock.

One of those titles I think,

-is something I've seen somewhere.

-Mm.

And of the other two names,

the only one that I sort of recognise is Robert Rankin.

I've never come across

Bruce Bethke at all.

-No.

-No, I've not heard of him.

That doesn't mean it's not him.

It doesn't mean it. No, absolutely. No, no, no.

-I don't know.

-I...

I... So, Bruce Bethke

doesn't ring anything to me at all.

-Well, we both have a thing.

-We've both got an inkling.

Only on the basis it's a name I've seen,

and I think I've seen the title of one of those.

The Nostradamus one, I think I've seen somewhere, but I...

Have you got anything, Pat?

-No, no.

-No, I...I've got nothing.

Nothing strong to offer.

So, the only two things we've got

are you and Kevin.

Shall we go for it then?

Yeah, I think that's the best thing.

Not certain here at all.

Well, we're reasonably certain it wasn't Michael Moorcock

who was renowned for writing first-rate science fiction novels.

But as to the other two, we're really unsure.

But we're going to take a stab at Robert Rankin.

OK.

It's interesting hearing that, cos Barry just

went straight there,

ruled out Moorcock and ruled in Rankin

right at the very start.

And after the discussion, that's what you came to.

And it's absolutely the right answer, so, well done, Eggheads.

And Barry, especially, Robert Rankin is the correct answer.

And we say congratulations,

you have won.

Commiserations. I mean, they are...

They had a bad defeat in the last game

and they've obviously rallied, which is irritating.

-It's a shame, isn't it?

-It is a shame,

but you see how well they're playing.

And... Yeah, there was...

That Rankin and Moorcock question was not an easy one.

And I loved your 1066 moment, Kevin,

-when you said there were a number of invasions...

-Well, there were.

We should go through all of them, not just the obvious answer.

So even the simple questions, they Google around them.

Have you enjoyed playing?

-Absolutely.

-Yes. It's been...

-Absolutely brilliant.

Thanks very much indeed for keeping us company here in the studio

and having a go at them.

Commiserations to Nott So Smart.

The Eggheads have done what comes naturally to them,

and they're starting to reign again over Quizland.

I'm afraid it means you won't be going home with the £1,000

so the money rolls over to our next show.

Eggheads, congratulations.

Join us next time to see

if a new team of challengers have the brains to defeat the Eggheads.

£2,000 says they don't.

Till then, goodbye.